Iran will be the biggest loser when Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime falls, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee today.
Not that I don't think that Syria can gain a lot by getting rid of their tyrant and ruling class, but that isn't my prime objective. Iran is our enemy. They have been for more than three decades and they've waged war on us in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I say stick it to them while we can.
Also, I take exception to the idea that it is a matter of "when" Assad falls rather than "if." It feels like we are trying to avoid making tough decisions by assuming that we don't need to make tough decisions to achieve a result that benefits us. Syria is not without friends or options and this could yet end with Assad in power:
The government has increased the use of force to suppress anti-government activities. Thousands of civilians, and far fewer armed rebels, have been killed in the last week. Russia, China and Iran have led the effort to prevent outside aid for the Syrian rebels, especially military aid. The state-controlled Russian media, for example, is full of stories about hundreds of foreign agents and mercenaries in Syria, causing most of the violence. ...
This propaganda campaign, largely unreported in the West, resonated with Arab populations long sustained by state-supported paranoia and conspiracy theories. As a result, a growing number of Arabs are not as eager to do in Syria what was done in Libya. With Arab League support wavering, the Turks are also not willing to cross the border and quickly settle the matter.
We've made progres on the Syria question since the Obama administration now thinks Assad should go. Now all we have to do is get the administration to accept that we might have to do something to get that result. There's no such thing as a Strategy Fairy who will come and wave their wand and make everything work out just grand.
